The holiday shopping rush is on, and that means porch pirates will have more packages to choose from at your door. However, a New Jersey lawmaker is trying to stiffen penalties for those arrested.

Last year, nearly 200,000 people in Jersey had their packages stolen in just 3 months. I’m introducing bipartisan legislation — the Porch Pirates Act — to help stop the holiday Grinches and porch pirates from stealing your deliveries and presents once and for all. pic.twitter.com/LiGpFN40Kg

Stealing mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service is a federal crime. Gottheimer’s legislation would apply the same federal penalties, including fines and imprisonment of up to three, five, or 10 years, depending on value, method and circumstances of the theft for packages delivered by private carriers, like Amazon, FedEx and UPS.

Package theft appears to be on the decline overall — down 13% from 2023, according to Safewise — but still costs billions of dollars each year. Gottheimer noted at a Monday press conference that the cost of the average package stolen in New Jersey is up to 87% higher than in other states.

For months, Congress has been hamstrung by the upcoming expiration of key Affordable Care Act subsidies, even shutting down for a month and a half over

Congressman Juan Ciscomani joined Representatives Josh Gottheimer and Jen Kiggans, along with a bipartisan coalition of 35 House Members, in sending a letter to House and Senate leadership urging immediate action to prevent steep health insurance premium increases facing millions of Americans in January 2026.